Horrible things like Aurora and Newtown need to be prevented by we have to attack that problem from all sides. Mental Health, violence in the media, and gun control.

Sophia, I entirely agree. It’s a bit of a tricky edge to navigate, but from what we’ve seen, these are usually healthy, happy kids who have been exposed to violence in the normal course of what our culture calls “entertainment”. Perhaps their interests would be less if we didn’t show them Star Wars, Harry Potter, or dare I say Hunger Games at such a young age? We believe that writing is a safe outlet to explore fantasies of all kinds. On the page, when bad things happen, we authors are in control and can determine the outcome. In real life, real violence is anything but in our hands. In fact, some researchers observe that violent play is a way for children to work out their anxieties about life. They are little people in a big scary world. In their imaginations, they can be heroes and save the day. Perhaps this permission to imagine in safety and control will give them a bit more confidence to confront the everyday challenges that inevitably come to us all.